Cradle - It is a love hate relationship...

This was my first project where I had a set deadline to finish. My wife is due to have our second child in about two weeks, so talk about pressure! I will eventually cut a design in the bottom brace (trestle?), and spend more time on the finish.

I took ideas from many different plans and adjusted them to my skill set and tools. Every piece of wood is from The Home Depot, and it is almost entirely made out of Red Oak. I used Birch plywood for the mattress support and maybe Bubinga for the trestle pegs and screw hole plugs.

This wood was extremely temperamental to temperature and humidity in my garage! I eventually started oiling raw wood before even cutting just to keep things more consistent. (any other tricks would are welcomed). All the routing was done by hand since I don’t have a routing table (hopefully my next project), and all the curvy cuts were made by a hand jigsaw. Every single piece of wood (aside from the pegs and slats) are comprised of two or more pieces of wood glued together.

Jason, that looks fantastic! Don’t forget, in a pinch, a router table is simple a board that has a router attached to it. You can always make a quick one by drilling a hole for the bit in a piece of ply, and then making some holes for the mounting screws on the router. Clamp a straight piece of wood to the table, and voila! Quick and dirty router table…

Thanks for the encouragement guys. Wow Randy, what a flattering comment. I really wanted to build this one: http://lumberjocks.com/projects/9607, but didn’t have the time, tools or skills yet.

AUBrian, I actually did create a 30 minute router table and zipped a few boards through it (head and foot boards have a half lap joint). When I matched the boards together, the ends matched up perfectly and the center had a huge lip. After cutting and trying multiple times, I finally figured out that my brand new MDF makeshift router table had a slight sag right where the router was mounted. I was so furious, I gave up on the table idea. It set me back a couple days.

You did a great job on this cradle despite the lack of tools and time constraints. You have created a family heirloom that should be passed down to your children’s children. I love your joinery (totally professional).

We recently got the news that we will (finally) be grandparents in March. I’ve looked at many cradle designs and I like this one the best. I like the clean, simple lines. I especially like the slats (instead of spindles). I’m definitely going to reference this cradle when I build one shortly.

I think it is particularly noteworthy that you made such a fine cradle with less than ideal tools. It’s a tribute to your skills.